Boutique Guitars – Creative Process

Ergon

is dedicated to creating handmade and unique boutique guitars.

Designing boutique guitars starts with more then just the kind of tone and feel you are searching for.

I need to know who you are, so that it may be reflected on the guitar to be built!

I want to know the things that make you tick. Know your preferences in not only music, but also things like the paintings you admire, the buildings you see with awe or the books you most fondly remember.

Once I gathered this information, I start drawing the first sketches and carve some three dimensional prototypes. From this basis, we will both decide the combination of design and ergonomics. I will strive to make the instrument aesthetically appealing, yet the most important thing is that it has to be comfortable for you to enjoy for as long as you wish to play it. Even when we move on to the actual wood, I will invite you to come by the workshop and see the progress of the build, so that important aspects like the final shape profile of the neck is the one you feel most pleased with.

And when the day comes that you take this labor home with you, I ask you only that you might bring it back from time to time so I can see how our creation continues to evolve and mature in your hands.

Ergon

boutique guitars the construction and materials

All Ergon boutique guitars are built with great care and attention dedicated to the quality of the materials used. Wood species are selected for both tone and beauty, and the combination of woods in every instrument made follows the agreement reached by the player and the builder.

Besides the traditional method of using slowly air-dried wood, thermo-treated wood has also been used for necks due to it’s structural stability and tone response analogous to aged woods. The necks are equipped with a double-way trussrod, either titanium or stainless steel. As for the coupling of neck with body, a sliding dovetail “set-thru” joint as been favored over other types of joints. The reason being that this kind of joint gradually locks in place as the neck slides into the body socket, providing a rock solid union.

Currently, the hardware used on Ergon boutique guitars are Gotoh 510 series®, with some instruments also using theStealth® machine head series. However, other options are opened to suggestion always taking into consideration blend between function and aesthetical coherence. The various plates found on the guitar designs are hammered and shaped from drum cymbal brass.

In the electronics department, the electric sound is transduced by custom hand-wound pickups, from manufacturers like Lundgren®, Bare Knuckles® and others. CTS® potenciometers are connected with quality shielded wire and the circuit is routed connected to the amplifier by a Switchcraft® switch and jack. The sonic possibilities of the circuit are fully customizable to the player’s preferences and request.